All-plastic support for rotating head owl

ABSTRACT

A scarecrow including a scarecrow body corresponding generally in shape to a body of a live animal; and a scarecrow head corresponding in shape to a head of a live animal; and an unstable mount disposed between the scarecrow body and the scarecrow head onto which the scarecrow head is rotatably mounted for 360-degree movement of the scarecrow head to the scarecrow body without interfering with free movement of the scarecrow head. The unstable mount includes a lower pivot assembly rigidly connected to the scarecrow body and an upper pivot assembly rigidly connected to the scarecrow head and balanced onto the lower pivot assembly, the lower pivot assembly being of two-piece molded plastic construction and including a foot and an upper member that press-fit together, with the foot configured to press-fit install into the scarecrow body.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to the field of scarecrows and particularlyplastic owls having movable heads. More particularly, the disclosurerelates to head and head support structures for scarecrow devices thatsimplifies assembly.

BACKGROUND

Improvement is desired in the structure and assembly of scarecrowdevices and the like of the type having a head that moves or rotatesrelative to a body.

Successful designs utilized commercially in owl scarecrows utilize ahead that is movably mounted to an owl body by an unstable mount. Onedesign utilizes wind currents and the like to move the head relative tothe body and another design has intermittent powered movement, such owlsbeing available from Dalen Products, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., anddescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,491; 8,171,875; and 7,966,963 allassigned to Dalen Products, Inc.

While the designs of such owl devices provide a desired appearance ofthe owl and movement of the head, the assembly of the devices requiresskill and is time consuming. The present disclosure advantageouslyprovides improved structures for the head and the unstable mount thatprovide advantages over the prior structures and simplify assembly, andresult in other product improvements.

SUMMARY

The above and other needs are met by a scarecrow having an unstablemount of improved construction.

In one aspect, a scarecrow according to the disclosure includes a bodycorresponding generally in shape to a body of a live animal; and a headcorresponding in shape to a head of a live animal; and an unstable mountdisposed between the body and the head onto which the head is rotatablymounted for 360-degree movement of the head to the body withoutinterfering with free movement of the head.

The unstable mount includes a lower pivot assembly rigidly connected tothe body and an upper pivot assembly rigidly connected to the head andbalanced onto the lower pivot assembly, the lower pivot assembly beingof two-piece molded plastic construction and including a foot and anupper member that press-fit together, with the foot configured topress-fit install into the body.

In another aspect, a method of assembling a scarecrow includes the stepsof: providing a scarecrow body corresponding generally in shape to abody of a live animal and having an upwardly facing aperture; providinga scarecrow head corresponding in shape to a head of a live animal;providing an unstable mount comprising a lower pivot assembly having abarbed foot and an upper pivot assembly; installing the lower pivotassembly onto the scarecrow body by press fitting the foot into theupwardly facing aperture of the scarecrow body; installing the upperpivot assembly onto the scarecrow head; and balancing the upper pivotassembly with the scarecrow head onto the lower pivot assembly installedonto the scarecrow body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages of the disclosure are apparent by reference to thedetailed description when considered in conjunction with the figures,which are not to scale so as to more clearly show the details, whereinlike reference numbers indicate like elements throughout the severalviews, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a rotating head owl accordingto the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a closeup view showing mounting of a head of the owl of FIG. 1to an unstable mount.

FIGS. 3-7 show the unstable mount of the owl of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an alternative embodiment of arotating head owl according to the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a closeup view showing mounting of a head of the owl of FIG. 8to an unstable mount.

FIGS. 10-11 are assembled views of an unstable mount and associatedstructure that enables electrically powered movement of the head of theowl of FIG. 8 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With initial reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is shown a scarecrow 10having a scarecrow body 12 and a balanced scarecrow head 14 locatedabove the body 12, a lower pivot assembly 16 rigidly connected to thebody 12, and an upper pivot assembly 18 rigidly connected to the head 14and balanced onto the lower pivot assembly 18. FIGS. 3-7 show the lowerpivot assembly 16 and the upper pivot assembly.

The scarecrow 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is non-motorized. Anotherembodiment of a motorized scarecrow is shown in FIGS. 8-11 . Thescarecrow 10 is configured as a great-horned owl, but it will beappreciated that the scarecrow may be configured as other birds andother animals.

The scarecrow body 12 corresponds to the body of the owl replicasdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,491, entitled “Owl With Movable Head,”issued May 11, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 7,966,963, entitled “Owl WithIntermittent Powered Movement,” issued Jun. 28, 2011, and U.S. Pat. No.8,171,875, entitled “Owl With Intermittent Powered Movement,” issued May8, 2012, each incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In thisregard, the body 12 externally resembles the shape and appearance of thebody of a live owl. The body 12 includes a concave upper surface 12 a toreceive a lower portion 14 c of the head 14 so that the head 14 iscountersunk into the body 12 to enhance the realistic appearance of thereplica and to avoid diminishment of this appearance during movement ofthe head 14.

The scarecrow head 14 is provided by a front face portion 14 a and arear head portion 14 b that assemble and matingly engage one another toprovide the head 14. The head 14 in the assembled state correspondsexternally in shape to the head of a live owl. The assembled head 14 isgenerally hollow and globe-shaped. The head 14 has an aperture 14 dadjacent the lower portion 14 c of the head 14.

The heads of the owl structures of the noted U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,491;8,171,875; and 7,966,963 are of one-piece construction. Such heads ofone-piece construction have are difficult to balance and to attach topivot components, requiring considerable time and skill. For example,attempts to balance a one-piece head typically involves trial and errorplacement of metal weights using adhesive or the like. Also, connectionof the head to the pivot components is also difficult, as the onlyaccess is through the relatively small opening at the bottom of theone-piece head. The heads are also difficult to uniformly mold andrequire substantial post-molding labor, such as the removal of excessplastic in addition to balancing and installation problems as noted.

A key aspect of the scarecrow 10 resides in the configuration of thehead 14 with a two-piece head, namely, the front face portion 14 a andthe rear head portion 14 b, with the two-pieces of the head configuredso that the assembled head is substantially balanced as molded andassembled without the need for adding on weights. This avoids cumbersomeand time-consuming balancing associated with prior one-piece heads.Also, the two-piece head 14 is much easier to install on the pivotcomponents. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the rear headportion 14 b is installed onto the upper pivot assembly 18 and then thefront face portion 14 b may be press-fit onto the rear head portion 14 bwhich greatly simplifies installation of the upper pivot assembly 18onto the head 14.

A plastic mouth or beak 20 a and plastic eyes 20 b are installed intocorresponding receivers 14 e and 14 f, respectively, formed on the frontface portion 14 a. The front face portion 14 a advantageously provides astructure that has a flattened profile and this profile facilitatesautomated insertion of the beak 20 a and eyes 20 b. The automatedinsertion of beak 20 a and eyes 20 b is difficult with a one-piece headand is generally done by hand. It will be appreciated that the beak andthe eyes may be formed with the front face portion 14 a during molding,but, the realistic appearance of separately molded mouths/beaks and eyesis generally better.

The front face portion 14 a and the rear head portion 14 b havecooperating connectors 22 that matingly engage one another in press-fitrelationships to facilitate tool-less assembly of the head 14. Oneadvantage of the two-piece molded head design includes a significantreduction in the labor needed to remove excess plastic around head aftermolding.

The rear head portion 14 b is larger and heavier than the front faceportion 14 a and the weight of each is adjusted in the molds so that theresulting assembled head 14 having the beak 20 a and eyes 20 b issubstantially balanced upon molding and assembly. The portions 14 a and14 b are unequal which is advantageous to facilitate automated removalfrom their molds. The thickness of the front face portion 14 a isgenerally uniform, with a preferred thickness of about 0.060 inches.

The rear head portion 14 b has a uniform thickness, except it is moldedto include thickened areas 14 bb preferably on the interior of the rearhead portion 14 b to add additional weight to these areas of the rearhead portion 14 b. The thickened areas 14 bb are desirably located to beacross from the locations of the beak 20 a and the eyes 20 b that areadded to the assembled head 14. The weights of the thickened areas 14 bbare selected to correspond to the weights of the beak 20 a and the eyes20 b to enable the head 14 to be substantially balanced when assembledand placed on the body 12 using the pivot assemblies 16 and 18.

The two-piece head 14 as described is advantageously configured so thatthe head 14 is substantially balanced as molded and assembled withoutthe need for adding weights or the like after assembly. This avoidscumbersome and time-consuming balancing associated with prior one-pieceheads. Also, the two-piece head 14 is much easier to install because therear head portion 14 b is easily installed onto the upper pivot assembly18 and then the front face portion 14 b may be press-fit onto the rearhead portion 14 b. As will be appreciated, this is much simpler thantrying to install a pivot component onto a one-piece head blindlythrough a hole at the bottom of the head. Furthermore, it provides forreliable desired mounting of the head 14 onto the upper pivot assembly18 at a desired location of the rear head portion 14 b. This consistentpositioning of the upper pivot assembly 18 also serves to facilitatebalancing of the head 14 in a manufacturing process versus the variancesexperienced with one-piece heads.

The lower pivot assembly 16 and the upper pivot assembly 18 cooperate toprovide an unstable mount suitable to movably mount the head 14 to thebody 12 so that the head 14 is freely movable in a rotational,back-and-forth, and side-to-side relationship relative to the body 12.Movement of the head 14 relative to the body 12 may be generated as byslight air movement to cause circular rotational movement of the head14, in addition to nodding and/or rocking movement of the head 14 toimitate head movements of a live owl to provide a deterrent effect ongarden pests of the type commonly preyed upon by owls.

The improved balance of the head 14 achieved by the described two-piececonstruction of the head 14 and simplified installation has beenobserved to provide improvements in movement of the head 14. That is,the better balance of the head 14 enables disruption of the restingstability of the head 14 to be achieved by very slight air movement,resulting in enhanced movement of the head 14.

The lower pivot assembly 16 and the upper pivot assembly 18 are alsoimproved over pivot assemblies of the noted U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,491;8,171,875; and 7,966,963.

In particular, the lower pivot assembly 16 is configured to be ofplastic construction and to press-fit together and to press-fit installto the body 12 of the scarecrow 10. This eliminates substantial time andskill in assembling the scarecrow 10, as well as substantially reducingcomponent costs.

With additional reference to FIGS. 3-7 , the lower pivot assembly 16 isof two-piece molded plastic construction and includes a foot 16 a and anupper member 16 b that press-fit together, with the foot 16 a configuredto press-fit install into the body 12.

The foot 16 a is of molded one-piece construction and includes a lowerbarbed end 16 c and an upper ribbed end 16 d, with a washer or stop 16 ecentrally located between the lower barbed end 16 c and the upper ribbedend 16 d. The lower barbed end 16 c is configured to be press-fit into abore or aperture of a top portion of the body 12, with the barbsproviding a tight fit and inhibiting removal. The stop 16 e abuts thetop portion of the body 12 and limits further passage of the foot 16 athrough the aperture of the top portion of the body 12. The upper ribbedend 16 d of the foot 16 a is configured to be press-fit into the uppermember 16 b to fixedly assemble the foot 16 a to the upper member 16 b.

The upper member 16 b is of one-piece construction and includes acylindrical body 16 f having a lower open end 16 g that includes ribs 16h configured to frictionally engage with the upper ribbed end 16 d ofthe foot 16 a to fixedly install the foot 16 a onto the upper member 16b in a press-fit relationship. A cup 16 i is formed at the upper end ofthe cylindrical body 16 f. The cup 16 i may include flexion slots 16 jto facilitate assembly with the upper pivot assembly 18. The exteriorsurface of the cup 16 i is shown with a rugous exterior surface. Therugous surface is desired for use with the motorized scarecrow is shownin FIGS. 8-11 , but is not needed for the non-motorized embodiment ofFIGS. 1-2 . However, for the sake of a single part for both, the rugoussurface may be included as shown. A needle 16 k is provided to extendvertically from the center of the cup 16 i to cooperate with the upperpivot assembly 18. The needle 16 k may be plastic and molded as part ofthe cup 16 i, or may be a separate piece, such as a metal needlepress-fit into a bore or other receiver of the cup 16 i

With continuing reference to FIGS. 3-7 , the upper pivot assembly 18 isof molded plastic construction and includes an elongate pivot member 18a having an interior pivot surface 18 b located at the lower end of thepivot member 18 a (FIG. 2 ) and positionable in contact with the upperend of the needle 16 k so that the upper pivot assembly 18 is pivotallyand movably seated onto the lower pivot assembly 16.

A washer or stop 18 c is formed to surround the lower end of the pivotmember 18 a and sized to be snap-fit into the cup 16 i of the lowerpivot assembly 16. The flexion slots 16 j of the cup 16 i enable theupper end of the cup 16 i to expand to receive the stop 18 c. The upperend of the cup 16 i is sized to retain the 18 c from passing back out ofthe cup 16 i unless a removal force is applied. Thus, the washer 18 cand the cup 16 i cooperate to maintain the upper pivot assembly 18movably and pivotally seated onto the lower pivot assembly 16.

A head 18 d is formed on the uppermost end of the pivot member 18 a formounting the rear head portion 14 b to the upper pivot assembly 18. Thehead 18 d includes a mount 18 e that fits into a correspondingdepression 14 g or other receiver formed on the interior of the rearhead portion 14 b. If desired, adhesive or the like may be added tosecure the mount 18 e to the depression 14 g. The mount 18 e and thedepression 14 e provide repeatable attachment locations to provideconvenient and consistent mounting of the head 14 to the upper pivotassembly 18 that aids in providing a balanced head mount duringmanufacture.

Turning now to FIGS. 8-11 , there is shown another embodiment of amotorized scarecrow 30. The scarecrow 30 includes the body 12, the head14 and the lower pivot assembly 16 substantially as described for thescarecrow 10. However, instead of the described upper pivot assembly 18,the scarecrow 30 includes a motorized upper pivot assembly 32 and anelectromechanical assembly 34.

The electromechanical assembly 34 enables intermittent electricallypowered movement of the head 14 relative to the body 12 and does notinterfere with any free movement of the head 14 provided by the lowerpivot assembly 16 and the upper pivot assembly 32. The upper pivotassembly 32 and the electromechanical assembly 34 may be provided by theupper pivot assembly 18 and the electromechanical assembly 20 describedin the noted U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,171,875 and 7,966,963.

The upper pivot assembly 32 operates in a manner similar to that of theupper pivot assembly and similarly includes a pivot member 32 a having apivot surface located at the lower end of the pivot member 32 a andpositionable in contact with the upper end of the needle 16 k so thatthe upper pivot assembly 32 is pivotally and movably seated onto thelower pivot assembly 16. An upper end of the pivot member 32 a connectsto a solar cell located in a solar cell housing 34 a associated with theelectromechanical assembly 34, which fixedly connects to the rear headportion 14 b. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the rear headportion 14 b is configured to be mounted on the solar cell housing 34 a.

The electromechanical system 34 includes as major components anelectrical power source, provided as by the solar cell in the housing 34a, an electrical power storage device, provided as by a capacitor 34 b,an electronic actuator, provided as by a solenoid 34 c controlled by atimer circuit located on a printed circuit board, and a kicker 34 dconnected to the solenoid 34 c. The circuit board may be of any designsuitable for providing a desired function of the kicker, and preferablycorresponds to the circuit board shown and described in the noted U.S.Pat. Nos. 8,171,875 and 7,966,963, incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

The solar cell located in the housing 34 a and the capacitor 34 b ascontrolled by the timer circuit enables intermittent or periodicoperation of the solenoid 34 c. The kicker 34 d is connected to thesolenoid 34 c and activation of the solenoid results in movement of thekicker 34 d. The kicker 34 d is located and configured when moved tostrike the spherical sidewall of the cup 16 i of the lower assembly 16to impart motion to the head 14.

The foregoing description of preferred embodiments for this disclosurehas been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the preciseform disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible inlight of the above teachings. The embodiments are chosen and describedin an effort to provide the best illustrations of the principles of thedisclosure and its practical application, and to thereby enable one ofordinary skill in the art to utilize the disclosure in variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations arewithin the scope of the disclosure as determined by the appended claimswhen interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they arefairly, legally, and equitably entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A scarecrow, comprising: a scarecrow bodycorresponding generally in shape to a body of a live animal; and ascarecrow head corresponding in shape to a head of a live animal; and anunstable mount disposed between the scarecrow body and the scarecrowhead onto which the scarecrow head is rotatably mounted for 360-degreemovement of the scarecrow head to the scarecrow body without interferingwith free movement of the scarecrow head, the unstable mount comprisinga lower pivot assembly rigidly connected to the scarecrow body and anupper pivot assembly rigidly connected to the scarecrow head andbalanced onto the lower pivot assembly, the lower pivot assembly beingof two-piece molded plastic construction and including a foot and anupper member press-fit together, with the foot press-fit installed intothe upper member.
 2. The scarecrow of claim 1, wherein the scarecrowhead comprises an assembled and balanced hollow head of molded plasticconstruction corresponding in shape to a head of the live animal, theassembled and balanced head comprising a front face portion connected toa rear head portion, the front face portion having a first thickness andthe rear head portion having a second thickness, the front face portionand the rear head portion being unequal in weight, with the rear headportion having selected areas on an interior surface thereof that arethicker than the first thickness and define an offset weight so that theassembled head is substantially balanced as assembled.
 3. The scarecrowof claim 2, wherein the front face portion includes a mouth receiver andeye receivers, a mouth having a weight and installed into the mouthreceiver and eyes each having a weight and installed into the eyereceivers, the offset weight of the thickened areas substantiallycorresponding to the weights of the mouth and the eyes.
 4. The scarecrowof claim 2, wherein the rear head portion and the front face portion arepress-fit together.
 5. The scarecrow of claim 1, wherein the uppermember of the unstable mount includes a cylindrical body having a loweropen end configured to frictionally engage with the upper end of thefoot to fixedly install the foot onto the upper member of the unstablemount in a press-fit relationship.
 6. The scarecrow of claim 1, furthercomprising an electromechanical assembly operatively associated with theunstable mount and including a powered kicker to intermittently contactthe unstable mount to cause movement of the scarecrow head relative tothe body.